Contents SPECIAL EDUCATION EXTRAORDINARY AID FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (Revised )

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1 SPECIAL EDUCATION EXTRAORDINARY AID FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (Revised ) Contents SECTION 1: SPECIAL EDUCATION EXTRAORDINARY AID REQUIREMENTS What is Special Education Extraordinary Aid? Which students with disabilities are eligible for EXAID? How is the EXAID amount determined? What is a separate private school in category 3? Eligibility requirements for private placements Which intensive services that are mandated by a special education child s Individualized Education Program (IEP) will qualify that student for extraordinary aid? What about any job skills or job training services the student is being given?... 6 SECTION II: EXAID APPLICATION PROCESS How does the district apply for EXAID? How does the district establish an account to access the Department of Education web applications? Which school districts may apply for EXAID? Can a charter school apply? Where in the EXAID application are the placement types? What if the student changes placement types during the school year? What if a student ends up in all 3 placement categories during the year? How is the application finalized? What do I do If I cannot find an Approved Private School for the Disabled in the dropdown list?... 9 Section III: Fiscal Considerations What if my district uses another grant to pay for some EXAID expenses? Can I still claim those expenses? What about IDEA funded costs? What is included in the eligible costs for EXAID? Which costs are not eligible? What are the in-classroom educational costs for in-district students? Do labor costs include labor overhead? What about Extended School Year (ESY) programs? What if related services are billed separately? What is a support cost? How do we determine the support costs to use in the application? What if the agency, district or school submitting the bill is not on the list? Page 1

2 3.12 Can I apply for costs incurred in the previous years? What about students in State Facilities & institutions such as Katzenbach? What is the placement category of: Lake Drive School of Mountain Lakes, YCS at Fort Lee and George Washington?, University Behavioral Health?, college-run schools like Douglass Developmental and UMDNJ's Greenhouse Nursery? Are out-of-county fees an allowable tuition expense? What happens if the costs change after the district has applied? Do I submit the application indicating the full year tuition although the student will only be placed for part of the school year? What happens if, during an audit, the costs are determined to be different from the costs used in the application? What happens if the child leaves the district after I ve applied? Does the district need a Board resolution to apply? What documentation must I send to the Department of Education? What documentation must be maintained at the district? When is the deadline for filing applications? When will I be notified about the district s Extraordinary Aid award? When can a district expect the award? How are EXAID awards accounted for in district records? How are EXAID awards accounted for in district excess surplus calculations? Page 2

3 SECTION 1: SPECIAL EDUCATION EXTRAORDINARY AID REQUIREMENTS 1.1 What is Special Education Extraordinary Aid? Special education extraordinary aid (EXAID) was first provided through the Comprehensive Educational Improvement and Financing Act (CEIFA), N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-19b. EXAID is now regulated by the School Funding Reform Act of EXAID is provided to assist districts with students that have high special education costs. The student must be classified and be between the ages of 3 and 21. The student s Individualized Education Program (IEP) must require the provision of one or more intensive services as specified below (FAQ # 1.5). 1.2 Which students with disabilities are eligible for EXAID? Using the birth date criteria on the introduction screen of EXAID, students born on or between the dates of July 1, 1993 and June 30, 2012 will qualify during the fiscal year. These birthdates will have the student between the ages of 3 and 21 during the fiscal year. Students with disabilities include those attending educational programs operated by or under contract with state departments and agencies. Students with disabilities who are being educated in court ordered placements, approved Naples placements and placements in licensed, nonsectarian early childhood programs are also eligible for extraordinary aid. 1.3 How is the EXAID amount determined? The methodology for calculating the EXAID award was changed by the School Funding Reform Act of The amount of extraordinary aid is based on the placement of the special education student. Eligible districts are those where the cost of providing education for an individual student with a disability, who is provided at least one intensive service, exceeds the maximum threshold amount in a single fiscal year. The three main placement categories and maximum threshold amounts are listed below: 1. If a special education student is educated in an in-district public school program with nondisabled peers, whether run by a public school or by a private school for the disabled, and the cost of providing direct instructional and support services for this student exceeds $40,000, then for those direct instructional and support services costs in excess of $40,000 a district will receive aid equal to 90% of the amount of that excess. Please note that in-district as not confined solely to a resident district but to mean in a public school district. 2. If a special education student is educated in a separate public school program for students with disabilities and the cost of providing direct instructional and support services for this student exceeds $40,000, then for those direct instructional and support services costs in excess of $40,000 a district will receive aid equal to 75% of the amount of that excess. 3. If a special education student is educated in a separate private school for students with disabilities and the tuition** for this student exceeds $55,000, then for tuition costs in excess of $55,000 a district will receive aid equal to 75% of the amount of that excess. Page 3

4 ** NOTE: Tuition is defined here as the cost to provide the educational services as called for in the student s IEP. The Department considers a public school program in placement categories 1 and 2 to mean a public school building or district. Category 2 generally refers to County Special Services School Districts (CSSD), Educational Services Commissions (ESC), Jointure Commissions, regional day schools, etc. These districts have schools and programs that serve only students with disabilities. However, County Special Services School Districts (CSSD), Educational Services Commissions (ESC), Jointure Commissions, regional day schools, etc., can also be a category 1. If the student applicant is going to a school or program that has some daily interaction their non-disabled peers then this is a category 1 application. Some programs in these county wide districts may meet this criterion. 1.4 What is a separate private school in category 3? A separate private school is a school approved by NJDOE to provide special education programs to public school students with disabilities in accordance with New Jersey Administrative Code 6A:14 Subchapter 7. A listing of these schools and programs can be found at: and This is not an all inclusive list. 1.5 Eligibility requirements for private placements. To be eligible for EXAID a student placed in a private school must be in an approved placement. This means the school must meet one of the following criteria: 1) currently be an Approved Private School for Students with Disabilities; 2) be approved by the Commissioner of Education for the individual student; 3) be a placement required by a court order, or 4) be the result of a decision by an Administrative Law Judge. A private placement resulting from an agreement reached between a school district and a parent or guardian that does not meet one of the four preceding requirements does not qualify for EXAID. Schools on the lists of Approved Private Schools for Students with Disabilities can lose their approval status. A district must verify that the private school has not lost its approval status removed. You can check the current lists at if you believe that a school is incorrectly missing from a list, you should contact the Office of Special Education at [email protected]. 1.6 Which intensive services that are mandated by a special education child s Individualized Education Program (IEP) will qualify that student for extraordinary aid? To be eligible for extraordinary aid, a special education student must have an IEP that mandates one or more of the following intensive services: Page 4

5 Related services, including but not limited to counseling, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy and other appropriate services for six or more hours per week. Multiple related services may be received as long as the total number of hours exceeds six hours per week. One-to-one instruction for 50% or more of the instructional day by a certified teacher. An interpreter for 50% or more of the pupil s instructional day. A personal aide for 50% or more of the pupil s instructional day. One-to-one nursing service as a related service for 50% or more of the pupil s instructional day. A class in which the number of pupils divided by the number of teachers and aides in the class must be three or less. This does not include pupils in special classes when the ratio arises from low enrollment or attendance. One or a combination of highly advanced assistive technology (AT) devices, AT services, adaptive equipment and/or training that increases, maintains, or improves the student s functional capabilities. Examples of costs include, but are not limited to, the initial purchase, staff and/or parent training, technical assistance and maintenance. NOTE: An AT device or adaptive equipment that has a useful life of more than one year can be considered for Extraordinary Aid only in the first year of its operational life. NOTE: Capital improvements that adapt the educational setting, for the purpose of ensuring physical access, are non-allowable. NOTE: An AT device used by more than one pupil is non-allowable. A residential placement for which the district pays both the education and residential costs in full or pays only the education day costs. Preschool Extended School Year requiring a minimum of 10 hours of instruction per week for 210 or more days. K-12 Extended School Year requiring a minimum of four hours of instruction per day for 210 or more days Other high cost expenditures properly documented and not included in the above list, which are required to implement the student s IEP. NOTE: If you select Other as the intensive service, the application will ask for a more detailed explanation of this other service. You must demonstrate that the nature of the services provided are in some way equivalent to the level of services contained in other qualifying services. If this service is not deemed to be an intensive service, you will be informed using the contact information you provide in the application. ****NOTES Page 5

6 1 - The student s IEP must require the intensive service. A service being provided that is not called for in the IEP does not qualify the student as having an intensive service. 2 - An intensive service that is called for but then not actually provided does not qualify either. An IEP with a ESY of 210 days but then the actual days of the program turns out to actually be 209 days is a example of a service that does not qualify as intensive. 3 - Job training & life skills management programs are transition services & are not considered related services to be counted for meeting the intensive service threshold but their costs continue to qualify. 4 - A personal aide and one to one instruction mean what they say. A teacher with 2 students for 100% of the day is not one-to-one instruction for 50% of the time of each student. And a shared personal aide is not a personal aide, unless the aide is with one student in the morning only, and in the afternoon is with another entirely different student. 5 - Before the school year, 10 or more hours of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) qualified as an intensive service. This is no longer a separate category. ABA services are now considered to be related services that can be counted as part of the 6 or more hours per week threshold. 1.7 What about any job skills or job training services the student is being given? Job training & life skills management programs are transition services and are not considered as educationally related services to be counted for meeting the intensive service threshold. A related service is a support service required to assist a student with a disability to benefit from his educational program. It is not for services designed primarily to assist the student to function independently beyond school. A Job training & life skills management services do not qualify for the EXAID intensive service criteria. But if the service is called for in the child s IEP, then the cost of these services may be included in the total costs assuming there is another qualifying intensive service. Questions regarding intensive services should be ed to [email protected]. We strongly encourage the use of in order to receive a prompt reply regarding the eligibility of a service. In addition, having a written determination of eligibility will be useful for audits conducted in subsequent years. Page 6

7 SECTION II: EXAID APPLICATION PROCESS 2.1 How does the district apply for EXAID? Applications will only be accepted on-line. The Extraordinary Aid application and instructions for completion are on-line on our secure site at Instructions for establishing user accounts for the on-line applications are available at Once a district establishes a user account it can complete one on-line application for each eligible student. 2.2 How does the district establish an account to access the Department of Education web applications? Instructions are available at in the document About User Account Administration. 2.3 Which school districts may apply for EXAID? The resident school district responsible for paying the cost of educating a student with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21 may apply for EXAID. An eligible district must have costs that exceed the stated threshold for the education of an individual eligible student in a single fiscal year (from July 1 st of one year to June 30 th of the following year). 2.4 Can a charter school apply? Yes. A charter school is not considered a LEA for state aid, but if it has educational and support expenses over the threshold, the charter school can apply for EXAID. It is the resident school district that must make the application. The funds, just like regular state aid payments, must first go to the public school district. The district then pays the charter school the amount authorized for the individual applicable student. If a district is adding an application for a charter student, it must select Yes for Charter School on the application so that we can identify these students and determine the charter school s payment. A charter school can us at [email protected] to confirm the proper entry of its students. 2.5 Where in the EXAID application are the placement types? After first selecting the appropriate placement category for a student under 1 st Placement Category in Part A Primary Placement Data, the district must use the detailed placement type drop down menu under 1st Placement Type to select the appropriate placement type for this student. Each placement category has its own unique set of placement types. The placement type selection does not affect the EXAID award. Specific questions concerning these placement types can be ed to [email protected] Page 7

8 2.6 What if the student changes placement types during the school year? EXAID allows a district to select up to two placement categories. The primary placement data is input in Part A while the secondary placement data is input in Part B. If you have a student with more than two placements during one school year, contact [email protected] for instructions on how to proceed. The primary placement type is the one wherein the applicant was placed for most of the fiscal year. The EXAID award will be determined under the rules that govern the primary placement selection. (Thresholds of $55,000 vs. $40,000 & percentages of 75% vs. 90%) Depending upon the placement category selected, both placements must have at least $40,000 in combined expenses to qualify! You cannot apply, if the qualified costs in combination fall below this threshold. There are six possible combinations of placement categories: 1 Categories 1 & 2 - The type of costs applied for are the same. Since the primary placement is a category 1 placement, the threshold is $40,000 and the percentage is 90%. You enter the data for both placements educational and support costs in both the first & second placement data entry lines. 2 Categories 2 & 1 - The type of costs applied for are the same. Since the primary placement is a category 2 placement, the threshold is $40,000 and the percentage is 75%. You enter the data for both placements educational and support costs in both the first & second placement data entry lines. 3 Categories 1 & 3 - The type of costs applied for are different. Since the primary placement is a category 1 placement, the threshold is $40,000 and the percentage is 90%. You enter the educational and support costs of the first placement in the primary placement data line under placement category selection 1 and the tuition total of the secondary placement on the second data line. 4 Categories 2 & 3 - The type of costs applied for are different. Since the primary placement is a category 2 placement, the threshold is $40,000 and the percentage is 75%. You enter the educational and support costs of the first placement in the primary placement data line under placement category selection 2 and the tuition total of the secondary placement on the second data line. 5 Categories 3 & 1 - The type of costs applied for are different. Since the primary placement is a category 3 placement, the threshold is $55,000 and the percentage is 75%. You enter the tuition total of the first placement in the primary placement data line under placement category selection 3 and the educational and support costs of the secondary placement on the second data line. 6 Categories 3 & 2 - The type of costs applied for are different. Since the primary placement is a category 3 placement, the threshold is $55,000 and the percentage is 75%. You enter the tuition total of the first placement in the primary placement data line under placement category selection 3 & the educational and support costs of the secondary placement on the second data line. Page 8

9 2.7 What if a student ends up in all 3 placement categories during the year? If you have a student with more than two placements during one school year, contact [email protected] for instructions on how to proceed. 2.8 How is the application finalized? The EXAID Contact and Certification Information screen will ask you to confirm the accuracy of your input with a check box. You need to do this at least once, upon completion or if you make any subsequent changes in your application after certifying. The Chief School Administrator, Business Administrator or Director of Special Services must accept responsibility for the input applications. PLEASE be sure to enter your contact information as soon as possible, in case we have questions. 2.9 What do I do, if I cannot find an Approved Private School for the Disabled in the dropdown list? If you have trouble locating an approved private school in the dropdown list, you can click on the help link provided in the primary placement block The link is accessed by clicking on the i on the right hand side. This will display a list of all the approved private school for the disabled in the State. Once you locate the school you need you can locate it in the dropdowns using the county and district displayed in the list. If you still have problems locating a school, send an to [email protected] What do I do If I forgot to print a student s application? In prior years, districts could not access the full data for individual students after the application closed for aid calculation. That has been corrected this year. You will be able to access a non-editable copy of an individual student s application. You will do this through the Look-Up Student Information menu. As before, you can display a summary list of all students. This year the list will have an active link to a noneditable copy of the student s application that you can print out. The link is accessed by clicking on the student s name. Page 9

10 Section III: Fiscal Considerations 3.1 What if my district uses another grant to pay for some EXAID expenses? Can I still claim those expenses? All expenses that a district incurs are paid for through revenue from a particular source. EXAID is an award after the fact. The cost has already been paid for when the actual cash award is made. If a district selected to use a grant to pay for a student s costs - but it could have used the grant elsewhere the district is not penalized for selecting the grant monies to pay the expenses of the EXAID student. For example, if District A elects to use the grant to fund a special education teacher and District B uses it to fund the cost of a oneon-one aide. This doesn t prelude District B from using the cost of that one-on-one aide as an EXAID expense. A district can only not use that expense if the grant was specifically targeted for that one-on-one aide. That would mean that your district actually had no expense for the aide someone else did. 3.2 What about IDEA funded costs? Costs paid for under the federal IDEA program are treated the same way as other grants in question # 3.1. A district is not penalized if it selects to use these grant monies to fund EXAID applied for students as long as other expenses in special education could have been funded by the monies. 3.3 What is included in the eligible costs for EXAID? This depends on the placement category that you selected for the student applicant. Category 1 The applicant is in a district public school program with nondisabled peers Category 2 The applicant is in a separate public school for only students with disabilities. All projected costs of providing direct instructional and support services for the eligible classified student are included in calculating the total cost. You request the entire amount but only the amount over $40,000 is eligible for extraordinary aid reimbursement. Direct instructional costs are all costs of implementing the services required by the child s IEP. (Except transportation) Support costs are also eligible, both direct and indirect support costs. These expenditures are for activities associated with assisting the instructional staff with the content and process of providing a learning experience. A complete description of these costs is in the Taxpayer s Guide to Education Spending under Indicator 6 ( The total tuition bill payment is not fully eligible for reimbursement in category 1 & 2. Any tuition bill for students sent to a public school district (to another district, to a CSSD, to a RDS, etc.) must have the educational and support cost component separated out. You must only use the educational and support cost component of an in-district rate. The in-district total tuition rate cannot be used in your calculations. Page 10

11 Category 3 The applicant is in a separate private school for students with disabilities. Only the tuition cost (including residential costs) is eligible. A related service that is billed separately, but collected by the private school is considered part of the tuition. Support costs are not allowed under this category. A support cost is not an additional educational cost (like a one on one aide) but rather a supplemental cost as described in the Taxpayer s Guide to Education Spending under Indicator 6 ( 3.4 Which costs are not eligible? Transportation services, including equipment & transportation aides. Administrative services Legal services, including litigation costs to implement the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). Facility costs, such as building maintenance, rent, heating, cleaning, etc. The presumption for this policy is that regular state aid is considered to be the state s contribution to the normal costs that all districts incur to educate students. The purpose of EXAID is to assist with extraordinary educational expenses only. 3.5 What are the in-classroom educational costs for in-district students? For EXAID these are total class costs divided by the number of pupils in the class. Generally these class costs are teacher salaries, aide salaries and labor cost overhead. A district has some latitude on how it calculates these classroom costs. It can use the salary of the individual teachers involved, or a district average teacher salary for all the teachers. Additional classroom costs can be included as long as there is evidence that the payments were made as a result of being required by the child s IEP. For example, if a visually impaired student requires large print textbooks, the cost can be included. The cost of textbooks given to a sick student that cannot be returned to school is applicable. The cost for a piece of equipment that is purchased for an individual student s instructional needs (and is not used by others) can be included. General educational costs components (like, stationery supplies ) can be included but must be justified in an audit review that they were calculated to reflect the cost incurred by the individual classified student. 3.6 Do labor costs include labor overhead? Yes. The overhead (that is, the benefits) for any labor cost applicable for EXAID also qualifies as an EXAID allowable expense. What are the specific types of benefits? see definition in the Taxpayer s Guide to Education Spending under Indicator 14 - Personal Services - Employee Benefits. A helpful link is: What about Extended School Year (ESY) programs? Page 11

12 All costs incurred during the fiscal year (July 1 st through June 30 th ) are eligible including the cost of services provided during the summer of An extended school year must meet the minimum 210 days threshold to be considered an intensive service. Anything LESS (209 days for example) does NOT QUALIFY as intensive. If a district program falls below the 210 day threshold due to official school closings it does not qualify. While the extended school year time period might not be sufficient to qualify as an intensive service, the cost would still apply if the student is eligible due to another intensive service. Starting this year, extended school year costs should be treated as extraordinary onetime costs and recorded in Part C of the form. The reason for this is that an extended school year placement must be determined on an annual basis. As a result the costs are considered as onetime costs. The only exception to this is when the cost is folded in with tuition being charged by a private school or school district covering a significant part of the regular school year. In that case it should be included in the costs for that placement in Part A or B along with the other tuition for that placement. A tuition payment for an extended school year is treated like a tuition payment for the normal school year. Only the educational and support costs in the public school tuition are eligible, if the placement is with a public school. 3.8 What if related services are billed separately? Related service costs billed separately from the rest of tuition are recorded in the lower half of the application under Part C Additional Costs. If you have more than one related service, fill out the Additional Cost Worksheet available on the welcome page. If you use this worksheet, print a copy and maintain it with your other EXAID records for the individual student. 3.9 What is a support cost? These are costs for services supplemental to the teaching process that are designed to assess and improve a student s well-being. These costs are not specifically called for in a student s IEP. Some examples of support costs: the cost to prepare and maintain a student s IEP, use of the guidance office, use of the library, teacher training, etc. Support costs are difficult to calculate for a single student How do we determine the support costs to use in the application? In the case of tuition to a public school or a private school running a program in a public school on a tuition basis, the average support costs are automatically calculated. For non-tuition in-district students you may do either of the following: 1) use the calculated cost average for your district as found in the Support Cost Averages by County and District available on the Welcome page or 2) itemize the support costs for this student using the Additional Cost Worksheet also available on the welcome page. If the only additional cost you enter in Part C Additional Costs, is the State calculated support cost, you do not need to maintain a copy of the worksheet. Simply enter Support cost average in the summary block and the amount from the table in cost block. Page 12

13 3.11 What if the agency, district or school submitting the bill is not on the list? Contact for districts, public institutions or private schools not included in the dropdown menus Can I apply for costs incurred in the previous years? No, a district may only apply for projected actual costs incurred in fiscal year If an unexpected prior year expense does become due in the current year (i.e. a tuition adjustment) and, if the student was eligible in that prior year and in this year as well before including the additional expense, then that cost may be applied for this year. You would include them as extraordinary onetime costs in Part C Additional Costs. Multi-year costs can never be combined in order to qualify a student for a single year. A single year s expenses must always exceed the threshold set by the placement category. For example, if a student s costs are $30,000 for both last year and this year, you cannot combine the costs and apply - even if they are paid in a single year. However, if a student s cost was $42,000 for last year (and you applied for and received EXAID for that student) and $43,000 for this year and in July of 2014 were billed for an adjustment to the prior year s aid of $1,500 you could apply for $44,500 this year With the $1,500 appearing in extraordinary onetime costs in Part C What about students in State Facilities & institutions such as Katzenbach? These are students generally in category 2 where the applicant is in a separate public school for only students with disabilities. A district pays the educational and support costs for these students through tuition deductions in its state aid. A district should include any students whose educational and support costs exceed $40,000 for the district. The tuition payment schedules are different depending upon where the student is placed. In institutions such as Katzenbach the tuition is deducted in the year the student attends. For example, if in fiscal year the tuition for the day program at Katzenbach under PLUS was about $90,000. This would qualify the student for EXAID. For students in state facilities the tuition is deducted in the fiscal year after the student attends. Costs from previous years are generally not allowed (see question above) so only apply if the student is eligible. A district is given notice of students in state facilities for which the district is financially responsible in the current fiscal year. If any of these students qualify for EXAID the district should apply in the current year using the estimated rates. You would enter the costs for these students as you would for any other student attending a public school on a tuition basis What is the placement category of: Lake Drive School of Mountain Lakes, YCS at Fort Lee and George Washington?, University Behavioral Health?, college-run schools like Douglass Developmental and UMDNJ's Greenhouse Nursery? Page 13

14 The Lake Drive School for the Deaf Program operates under the auspices of the Mountain Lakes School District category 2. YCS at Fort Lee and George Washington are both category 3 private placements. University Behavioral Health is category 2 public. College-run schools like Douglass Developmental and UMDNJ's Greenhouse Nursery public Are out-of-county fees an allowable tuition expense? No these fees are not educational or support costs or tuition What happens if the costs change after the district has applied? The costs a district submits in applying for EXAID are by definition estimates since a district is applying for costs incurred during an entire school year. There is no requirement to submit revised cost numbers after the EXAID application period ends or the fiscal year period ends. However, a district must notify the Office of School Finance in writing if a district s cost for an individual student applied for falls significantly or falls below the threshold. The district s award will then be reduced or rescinded Do I submit the application indicating the full year tuition although the student will only be placed for part of the school year? No, tuitions and other costs must be prorated. If the proration is less than or equal to $40,000 then the student is not eligible for Extraordinary Aid in any placement category What happens if, during an audit, the costs are determined to be different from the costs used in the application? The costs that a district submits in EXAID are estimates. An audit will examine whether a district made a reasonable attempt to give accurate estimates and will attempt to determine the actual costs for the eligible students. If an audit determines that the actual costs are less than the costs used in the EXAID application, a district will have to refund the excess award What happens if the child leaves the district after I ve applied? Immediately notify the Office of School Finance in writing at [email protected] if your district s cost would therefore fall below the threshold for the placement category. The award will be reduced or rescinded. Page 14

15 3.20 Does the district need a Board resolution to apply? No What documentation must I send to the Department of Education? A district must complete and maintain documentation to support each student s application. This documentation must be maintained for any future audit. The primary summary document that auditors will look for is the EXAID student enrollment information page for each applicant. It is the responsibility of the district to print and maintain a copy of this page for each student included in the district s application. This document and other supporting materials, such as the IEP, the Addition Cost Worksheet (if one was needed) and the billing documentation regarding the cost of educating each placement must be kept on file in the district. These documents will be required by the Department of Education during any future audit of the district s extraordinary aid award What documentation must be maintained at the district? A completed student enrollment information page for each student applicant must be retained at the district. The IEP, the Addition Cost Worksheet (if one was needed) and all documentation supporting the calculated cost of educating the child must be maintained in the district for the auditors When is the deadline for filing applications? The scheduled deadline is May 15, The application period will remain open for as long as possible to ensure every district has an opportunity to apply. Once the legislature funds the program we must close the application in order to prorate the requests to match the available funding. Any reduction in awards will be a straight proration. Once that proration is done and districts are notified we can no longer accept any further EXAID applications When will I be notified about the district s Extraordinary Aid award? Districts will be notified in early July. The notifications are ed to the county offices for distribution to their respective districts. A district will not be contacted directly by the Office of School Finance. The award notice documents will be posted at the Homeroom website under School Aid. Questions about aid awards should be ed to [email protected] When can a district expect the award? EXAID awards for the current fiscal year are still funded in the next fiscal year (so the requests are funded in the state s fiscal year). Generally these payments are made in August. Page 15

16 3.26 How are EXAID awards accounted for in district records? Specifics of the accounting treatment of the EXAID awards will be given in the award notification letter. You can expect the payment to be made to your LEA through the Automated Clearing House (ACH). Reimbursement funds should be recorded as revenue and a receivable in the district s detailed general ledger. Revenue Source Code Description 3131 Extraordinary Aid. This account is used to record additional state aid provided to assist the district with special education costs How are EXAID awards accounted for in district excess surplus calculations? EXAID revenue is unrestricted and can be used for any purpose. A district may appropriate these funds in or without commissioner approval. Extraordinary aid (EXAID) is an allowable adjustment in a district s excess surplus calculation done at end of June 2015 if the district does not appropriate the funds during If the district appropriates a portion of these funds during , then the amount appropriated is not an allowable adjustment for the 2015 audited excess surplus calculation. Page 16